A TEACHING AID BY ALAN REIFMAN, COLLEGE PROFESSOR AND AMATEUR SONG LYRICIST -- PART OF THE "TEACHING THROUGH SONG" NETWORK

Monday, April 27, 2015

Texas Tech Social Psych Musical (2015) -- First New Songs in 7 Years

With Texas Tech University's social psychology program experiencing not only the usual year-to-year transitions of new, continuing, and finishing graduate students, but also a complete turnover of faculty in recent years, it seemed to me that a new generation of students and faculty needed to experience a social psychology musical. Thus, the April 29, 2015 brown-bag session has been designated for a musical, and I've written some new social psych songs for the first time since 2008. These latest songs are dedicated to some of the newer faculty members. We'll also perform some older songs.

The first new song reflects Dr. Jessica Alquist's research interests in self-control and free-will beliefs...Do You Believe in Free Will?
Lyrics by Alan Reifman
(May be sung to the tune of "Do You Believe in Magic?," John Sebastian, popularized by the Lovin' Spoonful)

Do you believe in free will?
That you're in control.
You can do, what's required,
To achieve your goal?

And with free will,
You're always, able to choose,
The result is on you,
Whether you win or you lose,

Philosophers see free will,
In a complex light,
But we are trying, to get the thinking,
In laypersons' minds,

If you believe in free will,
Dr. A has found,
To "what could have been" questions,
You can sure expound,

The second new song reflects Dr. Amelia Talley's interest in studying the stress, substance use/misuse, and health of individuals with concealed stigma.Stigma and Stress
Lyrics by Alan Reifman
(May be sung to the tune of "Paper in Fire," John Mellencamp)

There's a young scholar,
Of social groups, and drinking,
Studying people, on society's margins, she said, would be her quest,

She would investigate,
What these folks, were thinking,
She would, now study, hidden stigma and stress,

Stigma and stress,
What processes, are at play?
Stigma and stress,
Studying it the Talley way,
Why those with hidden stigmata,
Do or don't display,
Who were these people,
Who hide their stigma, with stress?

One example,
Of the groups, she studies,
Are sexual minorities, whose status, may not be expressed,

She would investigate,
What these folks, were thinking,
She would now study, hidden stigma and stress,

Stigma and stress,
What processes, are at play?
Stigma and stress,
Studying it the Talley way,
Why those with hidden stigmata,
Do or don't display,
Who were these people,
Who hide their stigma, with stress?

[Instrumental]

Our young scholar,
And her collaborators,
Study conditions, under which, disclosing may be best,

Self-perceived stigma,
And types of coping, may help,
Unlock the mysteries of, hidden stigma and stress,

Stigma and stress,
What processes, are at play?
Stigma and stress,
Studying it the Talley way,
Why those with hidden stigmata,
Do or don't display,
Who were these people,
Who hide their stigma, with stress?

Stigma and stress,
What processes, are at play?
Stigma and stress,
Studying it the Talley way,
Why those with hidden stigmata,
Do or don't display,
Who were these people,
Who hide their stigma, with stress?

Further Readings
Talley, A. & Bettencourt, A. (2011). The moderator roles of coping style and identity disclosure in the relationship between perceived stigma and psychological distress. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41, 2883-2903.